Newspapers and other new sources provide valuable information and updates about current events and ongoing issues. They keep the audience updated about the latest updates and trends in the world. They benefit a variety of audiences. They are a great resource for students and researchers, helping them gain insight into various perspectives on their topics of interest and also help them analyze the topics of their interest.
Why Analyze a News Paper Article?
Analyzing a newspaper article is vital for gaining a deeper understanding of current events and issues. It allows the readers to identify the purpose of the article and also identify the intended audience of the article. Analyzing the newspaper also involves summarizing its key points and arguments, analyzing the language and style, and evaluating the credibility of the article, writer, and information written. It also involves considering its overall effectiveness and relevance. Using these steps, you can develop a well-informed and clear perspective on the topic of interest.
In order to write an excellent, well-organized and well-researched analysis of a newspaper article. you first need to understand how the information is put forth in the article that you’ve chosen and wish to undertake the analysis of. Most newspapers, however, get their articles written in what is called in technical jargon- “The Inverted Pyramid”. The inverted pyramid is where the meatiest part of the information or piece of news is mentioned at the commencement of the article and the news with lesser degrees of importance is mentioned gradually.
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This is done in order to assist the process where a certain new piece of information is found out or got released and you have to add it to the pre-existing structure. This is done by employing the editing style where you go from the bottom of the article to the very top.
Newspaper articles aim to bring answers to six main issues regarding any news. These are:
- The ‘who’ of the news
- The ‘what’ of the news
- The ‘when’ of the news
- The ‘where’ of the news
- The ‘why’ of the news
- The ‘how’ of the news
The “inverted pyramid” structure came about as a result of old media technology – the telegraph. When news information was telegraphed over the wires, the most crucial information was transmitted first. If the connection was lost, the story could still be printed with the essential facts.
Therefore, this method is also suitable for the editors, where they can choose to cut the bottom part to adjust the length of the news. Same way, for analysis purposes, the information structure helps you figure out important aspects of the newspaper article and overall structure.
Criticism of The Inverted Pyramid
While it is a common way to present information in a newspaper article, this method is also criticized often. Few in the media critique the inverted pyramid is not the right fit for every news story, as it may also lead to a decline in the reader’s attention. With the ending being told at the beginning of the story, most of the readers may not read it till the end.
However, this organized method of information is still beneficial in presenting you with structured information.
How to Analyze a Newspaper Article
Now that we have established the fact that newspaper articles are of utmost importance in the modern narrative of affairs, we shall now move onto explaining how one can evaluate these articles. Analyses of a newspaper articles can easily by written by making sure the following steps are well taken care of:
Finding the article that you would like to comment on is quite obviously the very first step. It should be a topic that you are interested in, well-rehearsed in, have some knowledge about and are even passionate about.
Summarizing the Article
To begin with, make a summary of the key points the article is trying to convey. Make sure they are concise and don’t stretch farther than three or five sentences.
To summarize the article, you should consider answering the following questions:
- What is the main topic the author is covering?
- What are the main arguments made by the author?
- What are the pieces of evidence used by the author to support these arguments?
- What is the conclusion?
With this, you will get a clear picture of the article’s content. This summary will also help you in the following steps when it comes to analyzing the tone and style and evaluating the credibility.
Identifying the Purpose and the Audience
Once you have the summary of key points in place, the first step in analyzing the newspaper article is to identify its purpose and the target audience for whom this article was intended. While a summary will provide you with a brief understanding of the key points, this step will help you thoroughly understand the main message and how it is conveyed.
To figure out the audience and its purpose, consider answering the following questions:
- What is the main idea that the article is about?
- What is the author’s main argument about the point or their main point of view?
- Who is this article written for i.e. who is the intended audience?
- What is the author trying to accomplish i.e. his/her main goal?
Figure out and denote the intention the article was written for, whether it has some purpose and make a note of that. It’s entirely possible for a newspaper article to have more than b to achieve for example a piece of news can be influencing and entertaining, both for its cause. You must make the critical choice of opting for one main objective of your chosen article and go further enough to provide valid justifications for your choice.
While you have already explained your choice of the article’s purpose initially, you must also go into further detail regarding this by having direct quotations from the article as a part of your analysis.
Moreover, by answering the question mentioned above, you will be able to gain a better understanding of the article’s context and the underlying message as well.
Analyzing Tone and Style
Once you have identified the purpose and the intended audience, you can focus on analyzing its tone and style. Both, the tone and style, can influence the impact and effectiveness of the article greatly. An article writer can use various techniques to convey their message. It can involve the use of persuasive techniques and rhetorical elements to convey the message as well as engage the reader. For analysis purposes, you will be focusing on identifying the use of these techniques and evaluating their impact on the article.
When you are trying to identify the tone, the article just might be trying to convey different tones as well as perspectives. You must make the critical choice of identifying the one major tone that can easily be seen as being the predominant tone of your article.
Again, you must then provide the reader of your newspaper article analysis with valid justifications for your choice of tone as well as provide them with the context by selecting some quotations from the article and making them a part of your analysis.
To identify tone and style, you should consider the following elements:
- Language Use: Is the author conveying his/her point clearly and concisely? Are the terms used right for the target audience? Is the writer using complex or too many technical terms? Are they difficult for the reader to understand?
- Tone: Is the author using a formal tone or being informal? Is it persuasive or informative?
- Style: Is the author’s writing descriptive or analytical? Is the writer using metaphors? How is the writer providing supporting evidence?
When you analyze these elements, you will be able to gain a better understanding of how the author is using various language and writing techniques to convey their message. You’ll also be able to understand how successfully these techniques are contributing to the author’s objective.
Analyzing the Language
After analyzing the tone and style, you should focus on analyzing the language used by the author. This will further help you gain a better understanding of how the author is trying to get their point across and how are they engaging the reader.
To analyze the language, determine the techniques and expressions used by the writer of your article and pick the major three techniques that you think have much more impact than any other. These techniques must each be explained and alluded to separately- not to forget that their objective and function must be established as well so that the use of these by the author of your newspaper article is justified.
This is a great way to make your analysis seem professional and organized. Some examples of techniques you could easily identify and use are the choice of certain words as being appropriate or not for the topic of the article, any wordplay that might cater to the entertainment of the audience, structures that the sentences are put in and whether or not they effectively convey the idea the article is trying to pertain to.
Another golden method to give your newspaper article analysis an upper hand is by picking up words or even writing techniques from the article that you have found unfamiliar to your previous knowledge. These are then to be explained and alluded to in succinct detail and must connect to the context of your article.
If such a thing cannot be identified in your chosen article, another way to ace your analysis is by pointing out certain words, sentences, or approaches that you have found particularly well employed and refined and going into detail about THEIR significance.
In general, try to focus on the following areas to help you follow a more structured approach:
- Use of Persuasive Language: Is the author using any persuasive techniques such as emotional appeals?
- Information Analysis: Is the author giving the information or also challenging any narratives?
- Use of Words: Is the author using simple language for a mass audience or using technical terms? Can the target audience understand the concept clearly?
Another golden method to give your newspaper article analysis an upper hand is by picking up words or even writing techniques from the article that you have found unfamiliar to your previous knowledge. These are then to be explained and alluded to in succinct detail and must connect to the context of your article.
If such a thing cannot be identified in your chosen article, another way to ace your analysis is by pointing out certain words, sentences, or approaches that you have found particularly well employed and refined and going into detail about THEIR significance.
In general, try to focus on the following areas to help you follow a more structured approach:
- Use of Persuasive Language: Is the author using any persuasive techniques such as emotional appeals?
- Information Analysis: Is the author giving the information or also challenging any narratives?
- Use of Words: Is the author using simple language for a mass audience or using technical terms? Can the target audience understand the concept clearly?
Last but not the least, comment in detail about any particular ideas or perspectives that the article is trying to convey or perhaps the problems it has tried to address or the solutions provided.
This can be made even more sophisticated if the writer, that is, you give your personal opinion about all of the above. Stating whether you are in agreement or not or have found it helpful or perhaps disturbing can bring a refined edge to your analysis as well.
Another golden method to give your newspaper article analysis an upper hand is by picking up words or even writing techniques from the article that you have found unfamiliar to your previous knowledge. These are then to be explained and alluded to in succinct detail and must connect to the context of your article.
If such a thing cannot be identified in your chosen article, another way to ace your analysis is by pointing out certain words, sentences, or approaches that you have found particularly well employed and refined and going into detail about THEIR significance.
In general, try to focus on the following areas to help you follow a more structured approach:
- Use of Persuasive Language: Is the author using any persuasive techniques such as emotional appeals?
- Information Analysis: Is the author giving the information or also challenging any narratives?
- Use of Words: Is the author using simple language for a mass audience or using technical terms? Can the target audience understand the concept clearly?
Are you beginning to get a better understanding of how to write an analysis of a newspaper article? Let us know in the comment sections below!
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